


Apologies

by imatrisarahtops



Series: Tumblr Prompts [9]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Apologies, Awkwardness, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Pre-Slash, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-05 21:24:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17332625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imatrisarahtops/pseuds/imatrisarahtops
Summary: “When you were akumatized, when you said you wanted to reverse me, you said you wanted to make a comic with me,” he went on.  “I know you’d said it before, too, but… even when you were akumatized, that was all you wanted from me.”“Oh.”  Marc’s cheeks pinkened and he glanced away.  His hand jumped to the back of his neck, rubbing it nervously, his other hand gripping his notebook tightly.  “It was stupid,” he said.  “It’s okay.  I understand that you don’t want to.”“I do,” Nathaniel said.  Marc froze.  “I do want to make a comic with you.”For the prompt "Please don't give up on me" for MarcNath.  Obligatory post-Reverser apology fic.





	Apologies

**Author's Note:**

> Another dialogue prompt! List of prompts [here on my tumblr](http://imatrisarahtops.tumblr.com/post/181587661384/writing-prompts).

Nathaniel supposed it was naive to think that the very day after Marc was akumatized he would simply show up in the art room.  He’d only met him briefly, really, then there had been the whole misunderstanding that led to Reverser.  Afterward, it hadn’t been more than a few more minutes before Marc was running off again, mumbling and stuttering and clutching his notebook to his chest.

Still, Nathaniel had really _hoped_ that Marc would come by.  He wanted the chance to properly talk to him, to ask him about his writing and the idea of working on a comic together.

He wanted to apologize.   _Properly_.

But he’d been akumatized too, not too long ago.  He remembered what it felt like, and the way he’d felt after.  And honestly, he could understand Marc a little _too well_ with the way the boy seemed to withdraw and keep to himself.  Nathaniel was guilty of it too; it was only when he was drawing, when he was in the art room surrounded by friends and able to work on his passion that he truly felt like he could be himself.

He was just about ready to give up and ask Marinette for her help in seeking Marc out when he spotted the familiar flash of red.  He approached the stairs and, sure enough, nestled beneath them was Marc, hunched over his notebook in his lap.

Nathaniel found himself smiling.  He really _did_ understand the boy all too well.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

Marc jumped a little, obviously not having noticed Nathaniel coming over to him.  He straightened up, snapping his book shut and staring up at the redhead with wide eyes.  “Uh, I don’t—I mean, I… sure?” he stammered, looking at Nathaniel with a bit of uncertainty.

Nathaniel dropped his bag to the ground, then sat beside it.  “I was hoping you’d stop by the art room today,” he told him.

Marc frowned a little at this, looking down, fidgeting slightly with the corner of his notebook and the pencil in his hand.  “Ah, well, I… I didn’t want to bother everyone.”

“But that’s the point,” Nathaniel assured him.  Marc tilted his head back up, giving him an uncertain glance.  “You wouldn’t be a bother.  Everyone’s always welcome there.”

“I don’t know…”

Nathaniel frowned, and he took a deep breath.  “I… I wanted to apologize,” he said then, and again Marc looked up at him, staring at him with his large, bright green eyes.  “For what happened yesterday.  I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Marc told him.  “I shouldn’t have gone along with Marinette’s plan.  She means well, but...  I would have been better off being honest.  I was just too scared you’d hate what I wrote and I’d end up embarrassed."

Nathaniel smiled.  “But what you wrote is amazing,” he assured him.  “I mean, it must be if I thought it was the real thing.”

“Oh,” Marc mumbled, and again the uncertainty was back on his face.  “Thank you?”

“No matter what the case, I shouldn’t have done what I did,” Nathaniel said regretfully.  “I ripped your notebook.  As an artist, I… I can’t imagine someone doing that to me.  That was really awful of me.”

“Ladybug fixed it,” Marc assured him, placing a hand on the cover of the book, as though giving proof that the Miraculous Cure had repaired it.  “Besides, ah… Marinette mentioned some of the stuff Chloe says to everyone, so I get why you thought what you did.”

“But I didn’t even give you a chance,” Nathaniel said.  “I’m really sorry.”

Marc was quiet, and Nathaniel found himself fidgeting under his gaze this time.  He cleared his throat.

“When you were akumatized, when you said you wanted to reverse me, you said you wanted to make a comic with me,” he went on.  “I know you’d said it before, too, but… even when you were akumatized, that was all you wanted from me.”

“Oh.”  Marc’s cheeks pinkened and he glanced away.  His hand jumped to the back of his neck, rubbing it nervously, his other hand gripping his notebook tightly.  “It was stupid,” he said.  “It’s okay.  I understand that you don’t want to.”

“I do,” Nathaniel said.  Marc froze.  “I do want to make a comic with you.”

“What?”

“You’re really talented,” Nathaniel said.  “You said all those nice things about my drawings, and I wish I could say something like that to really tell you how great your writing is.  But the whole reason I wanted to find a writer is because I’m not as great with words.”  He swallowed, looking down at his lap.  “I understand if you don’t want to do it anymore.  I’m the reason you were akumatized, and I’m so sorry.  But…”  He met Marc’s gaze a little hesitantly.  “I think that Ladybug was right—that Marinette was right, too.  About us making a good team.  So, please… don’t give up on me.”

Marc’s gazed flickered over his face, expression otherwise unreadable.  Nathaniel wanted to say something— _anything_ —else to get Marc to believe him, but he wasn’t the one skilled with words.  However, after a moment, to his relief, Marc smiled—just the smallest quirk of his lips, eyes softening.

“I won’t,” he said.  “I haven’t.  So if you mean it…”

“I do,” Nathaniel assured him.

HIs smile broadened slightly, but he looked as though he was almost trying to suppress it as he glanced down; still, Nathaniel felt as though he must have said the right thing to see the boy look so pleased, and smiled in return.

“Okay, then,” Marc said with a nod.  “Let’s do it.”


End file.
